12 Astronauts walked on the moon

July 31, 2019

With the kind permission of Isabelle Fougère (text) and Stephan Gladieu (photos). For the fortieth anniversary of the first steps on the moon, the reporters of Figaro Magazine Isabelle Fougère and Stephan Gladieux met 6 walkers on the moon as well as the earth hero of the Apollo 13 mission. Exceptional and exclusive testimonies.

THEY WALKED ON THE MOON

"A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind. "It is July 21, 1969, it is 3:56 am in France. Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon. Hundreds of millions of viewers are holding their breath as the Apollo 11 mission explodes. For the next three years, the missions followed one another, all successful, with the exception of Apollo 13 in April 1970, which was aborted because of the explosion of an oxygen tank. The technique is improving: astronauts drive electric jeeps, sleep and eat on the Moon. Thanks to the harvests of these interplanetary visitors, scientists have a better understanding of the formation of the solar system. Yet between Kennedy's founding speech in 1961 and the Nixon years, beginning in 1968, the United States changed. Lunar travel is less popular with Americans and Congress is criticized for being expensive. The last three Apollo missions were cancelled and the lunar page abruptly closed. Until 1972, twelve men succeeded each other on the lunar ground to write the most exceptional pages of the space conquest. From their travels, the explorers of the Moon have brought back exceptional impressions and existential questions. Nine of them are still alive. Isabelle FOUGÈRE met the heroes of this epic. Their dream: to live long enough to see man return to the Moon....

NEIL ARMSTRONG : THE HERO IN SPITE OF HIMSELF

APOLLO II 16 / 24 July 1969 . Time spent on the moon. 2:31 a. m. Current age: deceased

As a child, Neil Armstrong had a dream: he hovered above the ground. Thirty years later, it made hundreds of millions of Earthlings dream when they set foot on the Moon. The myth was probably too much to bear, which caused the former pilot to bow out on his return and slip away. However, there is still the first one, the one that everyone remembers forty years later. Over time, a hollow portrait of the most famous astronaut is created. Gene Kranz, the flight director, is probably the one who followed him most closely: "During the preparation of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong seemed more observant than protagonist, but when you looked at his eyes, you knew that he was the commander and that all the pieces were assembled in his head. He never raised his voice. He was preserving his energy. "Neil Armstrong's only testimony is from his logbook and the recording of his conversations with Houston. They were included in Gene Farmer and Dora Jane Hamblin's First on the Moon (i), published in French under the title J'ai marche sur la Lune (2). He recalls Apollo 11: "We were still thousands of kilometres away, but close enough for the Moon to fill the whole window anyway. It eclipsed the Sun, whose halo could be seen all around it, like a gigantic saucer of light extending over several lunar diameters. It was splendid, but the Moon was even more splendid. We were in its shadow... I was then really conscious, visually conscious, that the Moon was a sphere and not a disc. It was as if she was showing us her curves, her resemblance to our Earth, as a sign of welcome. I was sure she would be a very welcoming host. It had been waiting for its first visitors for so long. "When Neil Armstrong returned, he was overwhelmed with tributes. He addressed Congress, toured the world, visited American troops in Vietnam. For a year, he served in NASA but eventually resigned to teach as quietly as possible at the University of Cincinnati. Waste of time: the amphitheatres were full of reporters. Neil Armstrong then retired to become a businessman. The secret in which the pioneer walled up only reinforced his legend. Since then, the craziest rumours have been circulating about him. On the Internet, fake objects that belonged to him, fake autographs and even a fake lock of his hair sold at astronomical prices.

BUZZ ALDRIN : THE POULIDOR OF SPACE

APOLL0 11 (16 / 24 July 1969). Time spent on the moon: 2 hours and 15 minutes. Current age: 89 years old. Lives in Beverly Hills, California.

"I remember my very first few seconds on the moon, the most intense seconds of my life. After the immense difficulties we had encountered in landing, I was finally able to say the words I had been waiting for so long: "contact right, engine stop". Neil Armstrong looked at me. He hit me on the shoulder. We shook hands. "Of all the visitors to the Moon, Buzz Aldrin is the most tireless. This year again, at 79 years of age, he will be accompanying the Explorers' Club to the South Pole. Since he came down to Earth, he has never ceased to challenge himself: drawing rockets, exploring the Titanic, the North Pole, inventing space tourism... Despite this hectic life, he is not "cured". How could I forget, when we experienced the most incredible journey? Buzz Aldrin suffers from being the second to step on the moon, a few minutes after Armstrong: "I wanted to jump and I missed my shot. My knees were covered with dust, you can see it in all the pictures. "Buzz Aldrin wasn't the first, but he's the one in all the pictures, because Armstrong was holding the camera. On July 20, 1969, the former Air Force pilot realized his childhood dream: "I always knew that the Moon was my goal. My father flew for Standard Oil. When I was only two years old, he took me flying in his white plane painted with an eagle. And it was on board Eagle, the eagle of Apollo 11, that we reached the Moon much later! My father always wanted me to be the first. "Prepared by years of training for the long journey, the astronauts were not prepared for the return. Buzz Aldrin suffered particularly from this, to the point of calling his biography Return to Earth, not Travel to the Moon.... "After the euphoria, I felt bad. I was in a deep depression and started drinking. NASA let me down. I started building my own projects on my own, and I am proud today of the experiences I have had. "Buzz Aldrin has just finished a children's book. "I want to tell them that the Earth is no longer our only perspective. It is up to them to take the first steps on Mars and in other worlds they will explore. They must look to infinity and even beyond, never limit themselves. Let them go to Venus, to the rings of Saturn, to the moon of Jupiter! May they go beyond what their eyes can see, as far as their dreams carry them. "The latest book published in June in the United States: A Magnificent Desolation (Harmony Publishing).

ALAN BEAN : THE PAINTER OF SPACE

APOLLO 12 (November 14 / 24, 1969). Time spent on the moon: 7:45 a. m. Current age: deceased in 2018. Lives in Houston, Texas.

His workshop breathes order: aligned brushes, gradient colors, well hung canvases. To the visitors, he barely gives time to arrive: "Come and see my sketches!" Alan Bean knows what people want from him: "The question I've been asked for forty years is: "How did it feel to walk on the moon?" Well, I felt far from those I knew and loved. It seemed unreal, impossible. Even today, I still can't find the words... "When he couldn't find them, he took the brushes. For the past thirty years, he has been painting lunar scenes. On the walls, in a blue, pinkish atmosphere, his paintings show lunar modules and astronauts at work. And almost always in the background, the Earth, blue and comforting as a homeland. On a tablet, a piece of cloth. Alan Bean touches him with respect: "A piece of my suit that contains
moon dust. I put a touch on each canvas. "Alan Bean has memories of Apollo 12 in front of his works: "We had a frightening landing, our computers didn't calculate accurately enough. I remember running madly in weightlessness, without feeling tired, as if I was dancing on tiptoes. "Without looking behind their reflective visors, Alan Bean's astronauts are returning the image that the painter could have seen. "The explorers of the past seemed strange to the natives. On the moon, there was no one there. But in our suits, we looked like creatures from another planet to our friends and family. We are like the conquistadors of the 16th century on the paintings of the time. Like them, we arrived on board ships and used the best technology of our time. But the conquistadors came to take land, gold and jewels. We went to the moon for knowledge. Dust and stones, that's all we brought back. "Upon his return, Alan Bean participated in the Apollo Soyuz project, which brought together Americans and Soviets. But painting had always tempted him. In 1981, he stopped everything for her: I was a beginner again, but I had been to the moon, so I was well able to become an artist! I wanted to go beyond reality, to express myself through colour. Today, I paint my vision of the Moon. I don't feel like an astronaut who has started painting, but like an artist who once was an astronaut. »

EDGAR MITCHELL : A REVELATION IN THE COSMOS

APOLLO 14 (14 January / 9 February 1971). Time spent on the Moon: 9 h. Current age: deceased in 2016 . Lives in Palm Beach Florida).

"Up there, walking, I had the feeling I was a scout. We had so many tasks to accomplish: impossible to enjoy the landscape! I often think about it and try to find these fleeting sensations. Houston was getting us drunk with words while we were moving like on a trampoline! "Slowly, Edgar Mitchell walks along Palm Beach. Who would guess that retired Florida man trampled the lunar dust? With his eye fixed on the horizon, the former astronaut remembers Apollo 14 as a spiritual experience. Leaving the Earth has changed his life, even more than walking on the Moon. After two walks of more than four hours each, Edgar Mitchell and his commander Alan Shepard joined the module. "We hadn't eaten for twelve hours and haven't slept for twenty-two! Through the window, I saw the Moon, the stars and the Earth marching by. What I felt then changed my life. Everything I knew, loved, hated or thought eternal was there, a fragile little sphere suspended in the cosmos. I felt physically like part of a whole. I was sure that we are not alone in the Universe. "On the way back, Edgar Mitchell knew right away what he was going to devote his life to. In 1972, he left NASA. While pursuing engineering consulting missions, he embarked on research on human consciousness. "I have read all the texts: religion, anthropology, archaeology, psychology. I wanted to understand what had happened to me. In Sanskrit literature, I discovered the concept of Samâdhi, the emotional experience of unity. "In 1973, he founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences. "We have been conducting multidisciplinary research on the power of consciousness for more than thirty-five years, at the frontier between applied sciences and philosophy: intuition, the physical and psychic effects of meditation... I had to fight to make sure the institute didn't become a chapel and I didn't become a guru! People drew parallels between the 12 men who walked on the Moon and the 12 apostles "Author of a film and a book (The View from Space, a Message for Peace, and The Way of the Explorer), the former astronaut now dreams of a humanity conscious of the fragility of the cosmos: "We must learn to generalize this feeling of unity that I experienced when I returned from the Moon. This is what will help us to lead a sustainable life.

JOHN YOUNG : THE ETERNAL ASTRONAUT

APOLLO 16 (16 / 27 April 1972). Time spent on the moon: 8:15 p. m. Current age: deceased . Lived in Houston, Texas.

A little stiff, dressed in an impeccable white underwear, John Young crosses the Houston training hangar with an extraterrestrial step. Both strange and normal. To the respect we show him for his past as a conqueror of space, he responds with a shrug, as if so many flights beyond the atmosphere were routine. From his humour, he no longer lets anything show through. The one who sang at the top of his lunar head in orbit and played the supermen in the sprint between the lunar craters, champion of the laughing madman and the good word, no longer gives up on a scientific and military rigour. "Walking on the moon? That was my job, I'm an astronaut! My memory? We had little time and a lot of work. "John Young's lunar stay is best described by his Apollo 16 companion, Charlie Duke." When he stepped on the moon, we were twenty minutes late. All he could think about was catching up with them. But when he discovered the beauty of the landscape, he became exuberant. As we walked, John swore because the conduit that allowed him to drink was not working properly and the orange juice bubbles blurred his vision. Houston even called him to order for his swearing! "John Young never left NASA. For forty years, he has only very rarely missed the weekly astronaut briefing. He holds on because he has an objective in mind, almost obsessive: "Every time I look at the Moon, I wonder why we don't go back. We have to industrialize the Moon. This will revolutionize the way we live on Earth. We will produce electricity there. "A simple "why" is enough to annoy him: "It will get worse and worse with global warming, volcanoes, meteorites and overpopulation. And we sit here waiting for things to get better. We have to find our creativity again. The rocks of the Moon contain oxygen, you can extract it and stay there. But space is no longer in fashion, and it is very likely that this time the Chinese will be the first to the Moon... »

CHARLIE DUKE : THE ATHLETE OF WEIGHTLESSNESS

APOLLO 16 (16 / 27 April 1972). Time spent on the moon: 8:15 p. m. Current age: 84 years old. Lives in New Braunfels, Texas.

"She appeared by surprise. We were in orbit in his shadow. Everything was black: Suddenly, the Sun rose. With the snap of a finger, the Moon was there, bright, huge. She was revealing her hidden side to us. I had in mind the music of 2001: the Space Odyssey. "That's how Charlie Duke discovered the Moon. During the trip, he had let himself be won over by the euphoria of the mission for which he had been preparing for years. With his companion John Young, they listened to country music, enjoying their meals in weightlessness: "We looked like PacMen, eating soup balls! "The two astronauts also experienced anxiety: "Five minutes before landing; we thought we would have an abortion. In Houston, they were looking for a solution. It took six hours, but they succeeded. I finally heard "Lunar Contact"... The greatest moment of my life. "In three days, Charlie Duke explored a huge crater, almost lost himself between the cliffs, made speed peaks in a lunar jeep and exhausted himself collecting dust and rocks. He also frightened himself: "In weightlessness, you feel very strong. I jumped higher and higher.... Until the moment I tipped over and found myself on my back, like a turtle. I could have damaged my suit and stayed there. The whole world saw me and I got reprimands from Houston. "On the third day, Charlie Duke and John Young tried to pull a few more hours, but the base said no. You had to leave. From his Texas home overlooking an emerald lake where he fishes, Charlie Duke often contemplates the Moon. "It was difficult to leave.
On our way to Earth, we made a spacewalk. I remained motionless, floating among the Sun, the Moon, the Earth. "When Charlie Duke came back, he did everything he could to get back up there. He continued training until he realized that there would be no more Apollo flights. Although associated with the shuttle adventure, the heart was no longer there. He started his business successfully, but his three days on the moon continued to pursue it. Always impeccable in an aviator's jacket that suits him like a young man, he has become a philosopher. "For me, Apollo had been an adventure, a pilot's challenge, not a spiritual experience. It took me a while to understand. I had been successful, but I felt a terrible emptiness. My wife gradually brought me to God. I started to feel at peace. »

GENE KRANZ : THE GUARDIAN ANGEL OF HOUSTON

NASA flight director, he was the one who posed from Houston for all visitors to the Moon. He is often forgotten from the Apollo commemorations. And yet, without this round and smiling man, there would not have been a lunar conquest. He is the one who posed, from Houston, all visitors to the Moon. Gene Kranz was flight director of NASA. "The flight director is a conductor who leads about twenty controllers, engineers, planners, doctors, astronauts. It decides on all actions necessary for the success of the mission. Without any authority above him, not even the President of the United States. He must know the whole chain, have nerves of steel and a strong instinct. "For Gene Kranz, Apollo remains a golden age: "At night, I looked at the moon and thought: we're going to go, for God's sake! It was a challenge, the race against the Soviets, the energy injected by Kennedy. We were lucky to be young. The average age of both the engineers and the control room was 26 years. I was the oldest and only 36! "On July 20, 1969, Gene Kranz had Armstrong and Aldrin alunied: "I almost ordered abandonment several times. But we didn't think it would fail. And the pressure didn't relieve when the Eagle landed. The risks of staying should be assessed as soon as possible. "When asked if he's ever had a breakdown, he laughs. It simply wasn't an option: "We never let any emotion show through. And, once the mission was over, we were exhausted. We sometimes gave two days in a row. To celebrate, we were waiting for the crew to return and debrief. "In a testimonial book, Gene Kranz explains that Apollo's success was due to the deep mutual knowledge between astronauts and controllers in Houston. "Through training, we finally understood how each astronaut thought and reacted. "Gene Kranz remembers Apollo 17, the last lunar mission, full of bitterness. "Once they returned to Earth orbit, I read President Nixon's traditional message to the crew. It included the following sentence: "This may be the last time of the century"... We still had three rockets and three crews ready, but "I don't think man will return to the Moon in my lifetime. Yet all it would take is a strong sign. Often reminds us of Kennedy's phrase: "We'll go to the moon because it's difficult." What better way to awaken energies.